The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1887-02-28
COFFEE.

Times with reference to Coffee adul-
teration, which had been discussed
in its columns:--
Sir,-Coffee deserves the import
ance it has acquired as a subject of
public discussion, and the more so
because it is but little understood.
AT good tables poor coffee is too
often seen, and it may be said that
on the worlds table Gin these parts)
it is never at all, but in its place APP
pear various nauseous and injurious
limitations.
Valuing coffee as great aid in
hard work, made a resolve to have
the real thing on my table daily, or
''perish in the attempt" There
upon, entered upon series of ex-
periments that were at least anus
ing if not particularly profitable. l
bought every kind of coffee l could
sec or hear of, and tried every pos
sible (and some impossible) way of
making it, having the assistance
therein of a dligent and clever
cook. One striking result was the
discovery that ready ground coffees
sold in canisters, packets and other
convenient" parcels are bad, some
very bad, few UNANIMOUSLY bad.
After trying innumerable samples
without noting one that was worth
trying again, l concluded that
canister coffee is an unmitigated
cheat, consisting usually of mere
shadow of the real thing, with a
great bulk of chicory, and more or
less of what is termed "colour,"
this simply being burnt sugar to
give fictitious strength. What
may be termed "chandler's coffee"
is SO bad that l strongly recommend
a trial of it to respectable people
who love good living, for they ought
to know by taste Of real agony
how the poor are robbed, and poi
soned, and have, as it appears, no
protection from law, gospel, or the
customs of society.
1t is not good policy to purchase
coffee ready ground, but if it must
be done the supplies should be
small and frequent. Anyone may
test the purity Of ground coffee by
shaking little over tumbler of
clear, bright, cold water, and leav-
ing it for an hour or so. Pure cof-
fee communicates its colour to cold
water slowly, and when the colour
has been impaired the infusion is
still bright and clear, and the colour
is never deep. But chicory and
other adulterants quickly produce
an Opaque and dark infusion. The
difference is so striking that for
ordinary purposes a better test is
not required.
To place good coffee on the table
daily is a simple and inexpensive
business, but it cannot be done at n
penny cup, as some folks are in
haste to aver. At from Is. to Is.
Sd. per pound, good coffee in
berry is always obtainable, and Is.
4d. may at the present time be con-
sidered fair family price. 1t is
best to roast and grind rs wanted
but the grinding is the one import
ant point, because ground coffee
quickly parts with it's aroma, and
there is great charm in having it
made Immediately from the mill.
In some houses the trouble of grind
ing is thought much of, but, as a
matter of fact, it is almost nothing,
and a mill costing only a few shil-
lings will last lifetime.
| Coffee should never be boiled /;
it should be made with soft boiling
water at boiling heat, but if hard
water must be used, it should not be
made to boil until wanted, for boil
ing augments its hardness. A COM
mon tall coffee.pot will make as
good coffee as any patented inyen-
tion, but cafetiere is convenient
thing, as it produces bright coffee in
a few minutes, and thus enables us
to secure maximum of the aroma
and dispense with the use of any
rubbish called "linings." Everyone
to his taste, we will say, but as care
less people make the coffee too
strong one day and too weak the
next, the ground coffee and the
boiling water should be both meas
ured, and it will always take as
much as four cups of water to make
three cups of coffee. For the break
fast table the addition of about one
eighth of chicory is an improvement,
but for the dinner table coffee
should be made without chicory,
because it dulls the piquant flavor OF
the genuine article.
Two points in coffee making deter
people from using 1.-THE trouble of
grinding and the boiling of the milk.
The grinding, however, must be
done and it is really nothing, but
the boiling of the milk may be adj
vantageously eyaded by using Swiss
milk, which harmonises perfectly,
and by many well-trained palates is
preferred to fresh milk heated.
Good coffee is such grand help
to men who work hard that l shall
hope to be pardoned if l have said a
word too many on the subject
am, Sir, yours respectfully,